FBMKLCI DJ-115.42 CRUDE OIL90.63 RM 3.002

Worries about the Greek debt issue and the slide on Wall Street will weigh on investors’ sentiment in the week ahead, starting Monday, June 27, and maybe investors may give up the hope of window dressing as the first half draws to an end.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) hopes the result of its bid for the expansion of the Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah will come out by year-end. “We’ve already submitted our bid. The work is through a consortium to build a new terminal and runway,” MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said on Friday at the inaugural GLC Open Day 2011 organised by Khazanah Nasional Bhd. MAHB had prequalified to bid for the work based on its experience and also strong technical knowledge, he said.

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are likely to see continued bearish sentiment.

Jim Teh, Interband Group of Companies' senior trader, said technical correction could drive the market with CPO prices hovering between RM2,800 and RM3,000 per tonne. “Buyers will not actively enter the market this week due to the current high prices,” he told Bernama.

TALAM Corp Bhd, once the country's largest builder of low- and medium- cost houses, has unfortunately been making headlines for the wrong reasons. Recently, the company reported a net loss of RM25.97mil for its first quarter ended April 30, 2011 versus a net profit of RM1.57mil in the previous corresponding period, mainly attributable to lower progress billings generated from the development projects during the quarter under review. Revenue for the period plunged 43% to RM13.18mil from RM23.26mil a year earlier.

LNG Resources Bhd is upbeat on the prospects for the connector industry as many new innovative products required connectors in their settings and assemblies. Managing director Low Chee Thean quoting a Bishop & Associates' research said 2010 was a comeback year for the connector industry following improvement in the global connector sales. He said global connector sales last year was estimated at US$44.2bil, an increase of 28.4% after a sharp decline of 21.8% in 2009 oneconomic recessions in Europe and the United States.

Kencana’s earnings rose 81% to RM56.42 million in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011 from RM31.17 million a year ago underpinned by the progress achieved for the contracts. Revenue rose 34.7% to RM377.83 million from RM280.37 million. Earnings per share were 3.08 sen versus 1.92 sen a year ago.

When compared with a year ago, where revenue and pre-tax profit came in at RM280.37 million and RM36.5 million, this was an improvement of 35% and 91% respectively in the current quarter.

Muhibbah was awarded a RM338 million contract from Northport (Malaysia) Bhd to build a multipurpose wharf and the associated facilities. Hopefully, this could inject some positive news into the stock which was battered by its exposure to the Asian petroleum hub debacle.

Muhibbah said the wharf would be an extension to the existing wharf eight and upgrading of wharf 16. The contract is scheduled to start in July and completed in March 2014.

Subur Tiasa’s  net profit in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 19.5% to RM8.40 million from RM10.44 million a year ago but it expects the outlook to be positive on firm demand overseas. “The market outlook for timber and timber products in the coming quarter remain positive with the continued firm demand for timber in India and China,” it said. The company’s financial performance was impacted by higher operational costs due to the increase in raw material, fuel and adhesive costs. Revenue declined 11.8% to RM144.66m from RM164.12 million. Earnings per share were 4.62 sen compared with 5.55 sen. Subur Tiasa said for the nine-month period, net profit was flat at RM23.838 million while revenue declined 4.8% to RM486.22 million from RM510.79 million.

Tambun Indah has several ongoing projects on mainland Penang with total GDV of RM1.6 billion, which is enough to last until 2016.

FBMKLCI 1519.41 DJ+45.94 CRUDE OIL101.37 RM 2.9570

The ringgit, Asia's best performing currency since last year, is expected to strengthen further on the weakness of the US and its economy. RAM Holdings Bhd group chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the Government was on the right track in raising the overnight policy rate (OPR), which would increase the likelihood of the ringgit strengthening further. He said the ringgit would strengthen to RM2.90 to the US dollar by year-end because the growth prospects in the United States' economy were still dim. “The dollar will continue to decline as it is still mired in its housing and financial bubble,” Yeah told a media briefing following the rating agency's AGM yesterday.

Airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) would likely see passenger volume grow at a slower pace between 7% and 8% this year, after posting a 12.7% growth last year driven by growth in international and domestic passengers. Although MAHB recorded a 12% passenger volumes growth in the first quarter of this year, its passenger movement could soften in the coming quarters as full service carriers feel the effects of higher oil prices, said analysts. “However, MAHB's passenger growth is projected to remain relatively resilient as the airport should also capture the shift in passenger traffic from full service to low cost flights. We nudged down our passenger growth projection to 7% this year (from 8%) after taking into account the potentially adverse impact of higher fares - in view of high oil prices on travel demand,” HwangDBS Vickers Research said in a report mid last month.

three questions about TCUBES being hotly debated about:

Why did Commerce Technology Ventures (CTV), a long time investor in Tricubes, sell 14.5 million shares (which amounted to most of its shareholding in Tricubes) from April 24 to 27, days after details of its involvement in the 1Malaysia email project were revealed?

Was the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (Pemandu) right to spend all that money in two full page advertorials that appeared last week, to defend the 1Malaysia email project, considering that the project is a private sector initiative by Tricubes?

Are Tricubes shares a good buy now, considering that its share price has retreated somewhat over the last few days?

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/10/business/8649761&sec=business

Ajiya Bhd will invest RM15mil this year to expand operations at its four metal roll forming and safety glass processing plants in Malaysia. Managing director Chan Wah Kiang said the move would further strengthen its position as the leading player in the metal roll and safety glass processing activities in the region. The plants are located in Senai, Johor; Shah Alam, Selangor; Bukit Minyak in Penang and Sungai Petani in Kedah. Demand would come from several upcoming redevelopment projects in Kuala Lumpur, the Riverside City project in the Klang Valley, the Greater Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar Malaysia, he said.

Berjaya Capital Bhd (BCapital) yesterday entered into a share purchase agreement with Sompo Japan Asia Holdings Pte Ltd (SJAH) for the proposed disposal of its 40% stake in Berjaya Sompo Insurance Bhd (B-Sompo) for RM496mil cash. Berjaya Corp said the consideration of RM496mil or about RM10.51 per B-Sompo sale share represented a price-to-book ratio of about 3.3 times based on the latest audited net asset per B-Sompo share as at April 30, 2010 of RM3.18, a premium of RM7.34 above the audited net tangible asset per B-Sompo share as at April 30, 2010 of RM3.17. It is also a price-earnings multiple of 16.49 times based on the latest audited net earnings per B-Sompo share for the financial year ended April 30, 2010 of 63.7 sen. The proposed disposal is expected to be completed this year.

Dialog Group and its Australian partner Roc Oil are said to be on the verge of bagging the marginal oilfield projects from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for Balai and Bentara fields, located off the coast of Sarawak.

Bertam Alliance’s unit has inked a joint development agreement for a mixed development project of residential and commercial shoplots in Johor with a gross development value (GDV) estimated at no less than RM400 million.

KrisAssets posted net profit of RM35.44 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, which was a 31.2% increase from the RM27.01 million a year ago, mainly due to higher total rental income and lower finance and utility costs in the current quarter. Revenue increased by 7.7% to RM63.46 million from RM58.89 million. Earnings per share were 8.17 sen compared with 8.02 sen.

V.S. Industry Bhd (VSI) unit V.S. Plus Sdn Bhd has been appointed by US-based Keurig Incorporated (Keurig) as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner to produce Keurig’s Single-Cup coffee brewers. V.S. Plus would begin manufacturing Keurig branded single-cup brewers as well as some system-related accessories at a new plant that was acquired in October 2010 for RM12.3 million. Keurig is a unit of NASDAQ-listed Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., a company involved in specialty coffee and coffeemakers in the US.

FBMKLCI 1535.30 DJ+72.35 CRUDE OIL 112.43 RM 2.9340

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has jumped 159 spots to rank as the 550th biggest company in the world, according to this year’s list of Forbes Global 2000. Of the 20 Malaysian companies on the list, TNB was placed third with sales of US$9.6bil (RM28.4bil), assets of US$23.6bil (RM70bil) and market value of US$11.1bil (RM32.9bil).

The suit by Primus Pacific Partners Ltd's Malaysian unit against certain shareholders and directors of EON Capital Bhd (EON Cap) over the proposed sale of the latter to Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) has been dismissed with costs. In his 100-page decision which took about one-and-a-half hours to deliver, Judicial Commissioner Varghese George Varughese held that petitioner Primus (M) Sdn Bhd had failed to prove the so-called complaints that formed the foundation of the petition against nine board members of EON Cap and three entities controlled by Rin Kei Mei and Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King, who are the shareholders in the banking group.

Sabah-based plywood, veneer and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) manufacturer Focus Lumber Bhd, which made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday, was the most actively traded stock and closed with a 97% premium at RM1.18.

Transmile Group Bhd told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that it had to change the way its accounts were prepared for the quarter ended Dec 31 last year due to a material deviation of more than 10% of its financial results. It said that its unaudited financial results released on Feb 22 was prepared on a going-concern basis as it had been optimistic that the lenders would support its debt-restructuring scheme. However, after a dialogue, “the lenders were still uncompromising on their demands for full repayment and disagreed to waive their rights to the corporate guarantee given by Trasmile to the lenders.”

SEGi net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 surged 90.5% to RM18.12 million from RM9.51 million a year ago due to the increase in student enrolments at its institutions. Revenue for the quarter rose to RM68.47 million from RM52.29 million in 2010. Earnings per share were 7.35 sen, while net asset per share was 77.2 sen.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is revising its passenger traffic volume target to 72 million for 2014, from 60 million earlier under its five-year plan. Managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid said passenger growth at KLIA has been very promising and it should be able to hit its initial 60 million passengers target by 2011. “The growth so far as been good as indicated by the traffic in the first three months of the year. We are definitely on track,” he said. Under the five-year plan, MAHB is also targeting to achieve an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and returns on equity of RM1 billion and 10% respectively under its five-year plan that expires in 2014.

 

FBMKLCI 1535.59 DJ+7.41 CRUDE OIL 108.00 RM 2.9960

MAHB is expecting to see 12% year-on-year growth in passengers for the first three months of the year, compared with the earlier forecast of 7%.

MAMEE-DOUBLE Decker (M) Bhd has been in the limelight recently due to a privatisation proposal by major shareholders in a selective capital reduction (SCR) and repayment exercise under Section 64 of the Companies Act, 1965. This is a privatisation route that has been used successfully by several other companies.

Plantation group KL Kepong Bhd has estimated its capital expenditure for the current financial year ending Sept 30, 2011 at RM600mil. It said the expenditure consisted of new oil palm plantings in Indonesia and supporting infrastructures such as palm oil mills. “Oleochemicals capital expenditure consist of adding new capacities at Westport, Europe and China,” KL Kepong said in its corporate presentation at the Invest Malaysia 2011 conference yesterday. Between financial year 2007 and 2010, about 95% of KL Kepong’s capital expenditure was invested in plantation and oleochemicals. The company also said that it would continue to focus on land acquisition in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd’s unit has secured RM24.24 million contracts to supply two vessels to an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Its unit Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd would provide one anchor handling tug supply vessel and one fast multipurpose supply vessel.

MEGB, its group CEO and PT Sejahteraraya Anugrahjaya Tbk (PTSA) are teaming up to look into the setting up of a university in Indonesia. They will form a joint venture company in Indonesia with proposed paid-up capital of US$10 million wherein. MEGB and its CEO will each hold a 30% stake and the remaining 60% by PTSA. PTSA is listed on the Stock Exchange of Indonesia and is the owner of Mayapada Hospital in Indonesia.

DRB-Hicom Bhd’s unit Puspakom Sdn Bhd has signed an MoU with the government to undertake the hire purchase inspection services for all vehicles. DRB-Hicom said the inspection services would be undertaken following the implementation of the newly amended Hire-Purchase Act 1967 (Amended 2010).

MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD []’s (MAS) earnings in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 were impacted by the higher fuel prices, said its managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said. He said the high fuel price is “definitely making a negative impact on us”. Tengku Azmil said about 25% of the airline’s jet fuel for 2011 was hedged at US$90 per barrel but the price was now about US$140. On April 1, it was US$136.40.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the government's investment arm, has decided on the potential buyer for its 32.21 per cent stake in postal service provider, POS MALAYSIA BHD. "We already have a winner in mind," said Khazanah managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar. However, he declined to narrow the identity of the "winner" but said the names would be submitted to the board later this month. The three shortlisted bidders are speculated to be DRB-Hicom, NATIONWIDE EXPRESS COURIER SER vices and a Amanah REIT-Malaysia Pacific Corp joint venture, wit offers ranging between RM3.38 and RM4.62 per share. The other two bidders were Scomi Bhd and TRICUBES BHD.

Guocoland Bhd posted net loss of RM3.64 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2011, which was narrower compared with net losses of RM5.65 million a year ago. It reported revenue of RM23.95 million, down from RM42.42 million a year ago. Loss per share was 0.54 sen compared with 0.84 sen. For the nine-months, its net loss was RM2.38 million compared with net profit of RM2.49 million in the previous corresponding period. Revenue was RM84.29 million versus RM130.49 million a year ago. Its net asset per share was RM1.12. According to the notes to the accounts, it had short-term and long-term borrowings of RM786 million as at March 31, 2011.

FBMKLCI 1557.49 DJ-29.44 CRUDE OIL 113.13 RM 2.99

THE local stock market is expected to take a temporary breather this week after the recent solid uptrend. Head of Retail Research, Affin Investment Bank, Dr Nazri Khan said in the near-term, despite the strength shown by the broad market, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) consolidated between 1,550 and 1,560, given the super gains made by the local and regional markets over the last three weeks.
“We believe the Malaysian equity market has reached an overbought situation after a solid uptrend. A number of sentiment indicators suggest the market is apt for correction,” he told Bernama today.

Major shareholders of Mamee-Double Decker (M) Bhd have proposed to privatise the company from Bursa Malaysia by undergoing a capital reduction and repayment exercise under Section 64 of the Companies Act, 1965. Under the plan, major shareholders of Mamee who control the company would repay RM179.8m or RM4.39 a share to minority shareholders. The controlling shareholders would waive their entitlement from
receiving cash under the capital reduction and repayment exercise. Shares of Mamee are suspended but last traded at RM3.60 a share. The company said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia the proposal for the exercise
was from Tanah Subor SB, which represented the controlling shareholders of the company having 71.9% of the company's shares.

IOI Corp is investing SGD114.77m in a Singapore property company which will develop premium office space, luxury hotel, high-end retail outlets and prestigious city residences along Beach Road in the island republic. IOI Corp said on Friday, 8 April the land, measuring 376,295 sq ft (8.64 acres), had a leasehold tenure of 99 years. IOI Corp said the investment would be via its unit, IOI Consolidated (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which had subscribed for a 49% stake in Singapore’s Scottsdale Properties Pte Ltd for cash consideration of SGD114.77m.

Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) is “seriously” on the lookout to build and manage overseas airports in line with its aspiration to become a global leader in airport investment and management. In its financial year ended 31 Dec 2010 annual report released last week, MAHB chairman Tan Sri Aris Othman said the group was seriously looking at new, yet viable opportunities globally, particularly in Asia.

FBMKLCI 1506.30 DJ+61.52 CRUDE OIL 88.15 RM 3.022

Petronas Dagangan Bhd net profit rose 26% to RM236.2mil in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM187.2mil in the same period last year on lower operating expenditures.

 

AirAsia may get new A320s only after 2016
PETALING JAYA: Low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd will likely only take delivery of new, more fuel-efficient Airbus 320 planes after 2016, according to analysts, commenting on news reports from Paris that it was in talks with aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS to buy upgraded A320 planes.

 

IOI Corp Bhd’s net profit rose 12.8% to RM520.2mil in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 compared with RM461.2mil in the previous corresponding period mainly on higher contribution from its plantation and property divisions. Revenue was RM3.97 billion compared to RM3.06 billion in 2009, while earnings per share was 8.15 sen. Net assets per share was RM1.73. IOI Corp declared an interim single tier tax-exempt dividend of 80% or 8.0 sen per ordinary share of 10 sen each in respect of the financial year ending June 30, 2011. In the 2Q ended Dec 31, 2010, total fair value losses on derivative contracts recognised were about RM73 million. For the six months ended Dec 31, IOI Corp net profit rose to RM1.02 billion from RM939.59 million, on the back of revenue RM7.49 billion. IOI Corp’s plantation segment reported a 14% increase in operating profit to RM363.7 million for 2QFY2011 as compared to RM319.9 million a year ago.

Dialog’s earnings rose 25.7% to RM35.99 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM28.63 million a year ago, due mainly to higher contribution from its engineering and CONSTRUCTION [] and plant maintenance activities in Malaysia and Singapore. Revenue slipped 2.5% to RM268.53 million from RM275.57 million in 2009. Earnings per share were 1.84 sen while net assets per share were 26.3 sen.

For the six months, earnings rose 24.3% to RM69.09 million from RM55.56 million. Revenue declined 8.9% to RM532.33 million from RM584.42 million.

Amway’s net profit rose 12.5% to RM18.32 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM16.28 million a year ago, year mainly due to the increase in sales revenue. Revenue rose to RM184.1 million from RM171.89 million mainly due to an increase in the distributors’ productivity after implementing the sales and marketing programme, effort index adjustment and the distributor price increase implemented in first half of the year. Earnings per share were 11.14 sen while net asset per share was RM1.28. It declared a fourth interim single tier dividend of 9.0 sen net per share. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, it posted net profit RM78.32 million on the back of revenue RM719.41 million.

Green Packet Bhd posted net loss of RM77.68 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010, which was lower compared with the RM100.71 million a year ago. Revenue rose 58% to RM116.25 million from RM73.54 million, loss per share was 11.8 sen compared with 15.3 sen. However, the loss from continuing operations were RM100.11 million compared with RM103.82 million a year ago. For FY10, it managed to reduce its net loss to RM134.97 million from RM182.64 million in FY09, while revenue increased 80.8% to RM393.97 million from RM217.81 million. Loss from continuing operations increased to RM209.67 million from RM187.41 million in FY09. Green Packet’s total group accumulated losses increased to RM274.67 million as at Dec 31, 2010 from RM196.53 million as at Sept 30, 2010.

Airports operator Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd’s net profit fell 29% to RM100.04 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM140.97 million a year ago. MAHB said the decline was mainly due to the adoption of FRS 139 resulting in the higher share of losses in an associate company. However, the concession payable by the associate company was recognised at fair value and subsequently at amortised cost. Gains and losses arising from the changes in the fair value were recognised in the income statement.

Its 4Q revenue rose to RM494.37 million from RM476.84 million a year ago, while earnings per share were 9.15 sen. Net assets per share was RM2.99.

ZELAN BHD  recorded negative revenue from its continuing operations in Indonesia totaling RM39.2 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 and warned of more losses in the current fourth quarter.

Explaining the negative revenue, Zelan said this was due to a reversal made on the revenue recognised earlier as a result of additional foreseeable losses for the Indonesian project. It said net losses for the 3Q were RM41.29 million compared with RM60.38 million. Loss per share was 7.33 sen versus 10.72 sen.

“The group recorded a loss after tax from continuing operations of RM40.5 million as compared to RM64.4 million losses in the preceding year’s quarter,” it said.

Tambun Indah had proposed to acquire three companies for RM11.6 million, which would increase the group’s GDV by RM245 million to RM1.4 billion to last till 2016. “The group expects contributions of RM38.7 million in pre-tax profits over development period from FY2011 to FY2014,” it said.

FBMKLCI 1566.49 DJ+83.56 CRUDE OIL 92.08 RM 3.03

Faber Group Bhd subsidiary Faber Ltd Liability Co (FLLC) has received a letter from the Department of Municipal Affairs, Western Region Municipality, Abu Dhabi, for the non-renewal of three contracts with an estimated annual total contract worth RM184mil. The contracts are for the provisions of civil, mechanical and electrical maintenance services for low-cost houses at Madinat Zayed and Liwa in Abu Dhabi. The services of FLLC for the contracts will cease with effect from April 3 and June 1. The non-renewal of the contracts shall have an effect to the group's earnings and the net assets per share of approximately 4 sen for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2011.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has signed two agreements worth some RM2.15bil for its Ulu Jelai hydroelectric project. The company said the first agreement was with SMEC International Pty Ltd and SMEC (M) Sdn Bhd consortium, which would provide detailed engineering design for the main civil works, engineering design review for electrical and mechanical works, project management and site supervision.

The contract value was A$22.1mil and RM31.1mil, which was equivalent to RM99.6mil at the prevailing exchange rates, it told Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

The second agreement is with Tindakan Mewah Sdn Bhd and Salini Costruttori SpA consortium. Under this contract, the consortium will be responsible for the main civil, electrical and mechanical works.

The main civil works consist of the construction of a dam, two water-transfer tunnels and an underground power house. It said the value of the second contract was 307 million euros and RM818.1mil, which was equivalent to RM2.05bil at the prevailing exchange rates.

Affin’s share price rose its 10-year high on Wednesday at RM3.59, despite its management dispelling rumours of a takeover by CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. Later, CIMB stated it is not involved in any discussions relating to a possible acquisition or merger with Affin Bank or any of its related companies. Its shares may see some selling pressure.

Naim Holdings moved a further step ahead for the Sabah Oil and Gas project after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the relevant works involving oil and gas facilities. Its unit Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd had signed the MoU with Sabah Oil & Gas Contractor Association (SOGCA) and Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Malaysia Negeri Sabah. The MoU was to record certain basic understanding reached between the parties to participate in the relevant works of the O&G facilities under the contract secured recently for the engineering, procurement, CONSTRUCTION and commissioning of the project.

Green Packet plans to invest RM250 million in 2011 to expand its sites from 1,000 now to 1,600. Each site has about three base stations.  Group managing director CC Puan said this would increase its coverage to about 52% of the population of West Malaysia by the end of this year, from about 45% of the population at present.

Property developer SP Setia Bhd (8664)has emerged as the leading contender to build the Penang International Convention Centre (PICC) on the grounds of the Penang International Sports Arena (Pisa). According to sources, SP Setia is likely to get a 30-year concession to build and operate the convention centre, which will include other components like a hotel and retail outlets. "The proposed project is likely to cost over RM200 million," one source told Business Times yesterday. Another source said SP Setia is one of four companies which had responded to a request for proposal from the Penang state government. The Penang Island Municipal Council had closed the tender in September last year.  

AN ambitious RM6.5 billion plan to develop an integrated resort in Karambunai near Kota Kinabalu has received support from the Sabah government. The state cabinet gave its nod after a delegation led by Karambunai Corp Bhd president Tan Sri Dr Tsen Lip Keong provided a briefing on the project yesterday. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the development could strengthen Sabah's position as a tourism hub in the region and provide employment opportunities. "According to the briefing, 20,000 to 50,000 jobs will be made available in the next 10 years.

Tejari Technologies is confident of growing its revenue by 20% this year with the expandion of its retail and wholesale businesses in information and communication technology (ICT products. The recent acquisition of PC3 Technology SV and Essential Action SV have helped boost the group;s revenue for nine month period ended Aug 31.  

Malaysia Airports is set to receive four new airlines flying into KL International (KLIA) in sepang this year. MAHB marketing manager Mohamed Sallauddin Mohamed Shah said these airlines from the Middle East, India, South Afgrica have expressed strong interest to fly into KLIA and some indicated plans to commence services dyibng rge summer and witer period.

Perodua, Malaysia’s number one car seller in 2010, has set aside RM614.2mil for capital expenditure (capex) this year. Of this amount, between RM250mil and RM300mil will be utilised for the development of a new model, which is expected to further boost overall sales. “New models are needed in this business and we will also work towards increasing the local content. At present, the Alza has the highest local content of 90% while for other models, such as the Viva and Myvi, it is above 80%,” managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh told a press conference after unveiling the company’s sales figures for 2010 yesterday. He also said the new model would be a small compact car, but declined to say if it would be a completely new model or replacement of units of the current models in Perodua, as the Myvi has been in the market for five years.